BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Police officials identified the police sergeant killed in an overnight shooting in Birmingham when a car burglary suspect began shooting at officers. A second officer was critically injured.
According to NBC station WVTM, the incident happened near downtown Birmingham when an undercover officer and a uniformed sergeant encountered a pair of car burglary suspects at about 2 a.m Sunday.
One of the suspects pulled a gun and opened fire after being confronted by the officers.
Birmingham Police Chief Patrick Smith said the sergeant was 'mortally wounded' and the second officer was critically injured. He remains hospitalized in critical condition Sunday morning.
Police later identified the deceased officer as 44-year-old Sergeant Wytasha Carter of Birmingham. Carter has served with the Birmingham Police Department since 2011 and was promoted to sergeant in 2018.
Smith says one suspect was injured during the incident and transported to a hospital for treatment, the other was taken into custody.
"This is one of the roughest hours of your career," Smith told WVTM. "There's not a chief, not an officer that ever wants to have to deal with this. This is a very difficult thing for the family, very difficult for the department."
The officers' names have been withheld pending notification of family.
WVTM says this is the first officer killed in the line of duty in Birmingham in more than 14 years.
The Alabama State Bureau of Investigation is investigating the incident.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin released a statement on Twitter Sunday morning asking for prayers for the family of the officer killed and the officer currently hospitalized.
Other condolences have come in from law enforcement agencies across Alabama and around the nation.
WVTM Birmingham contributed to this report